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Just bought a shotgun, and it's dry on the inside.

Purchased a well used but perhaps neglected Mossberg 500A in 12 gauge with a 28" barrel, made in 1999. Wood is nicely dinged, paint on the receiver shows obvious wear from being held against the body, and all the wear surfaces inside have a nice shine. This gun probably put a few meals on the table, but remains quite functional. Very limited pitting can be observed in some areas, not enough for to worry me. Guy at the shop says the gun had been hanging there for some months, history of care unknown.


While taking the gun apart for an initial "assume the last owner never bothered to run a patch" cleaning, I was dismayed to find that most of the internal components were bone dry. At most, a thin layer of gummed and carbon loaded grease remained. I quickly removed what remained of the lube with isopropyl alcohol, and poured on CLP like a child emptying a syrup bottle onto pancakes. Next day I took the gun apart again, and found most surfaces dry again. My guess is that the some of the CLP soaked into whatever it could, and the rest wandered elsewhere.


I am not satisfied with the lubrication and corrosion protection in the gun currently, though deem it ample for the quick range day I have planned for Monday. I'm seriously considering dumping a bottle of 5w-30 in a pie dish and soaking all the small parts just to get something on them. WD40 Specialist is another option, if I can find any in town.

What would be the best way to "re-lube" the shotgun? Or am I just worrying too much?
 
I do not like to run most of my guns to wet. I use just enough lube to keep stuff working, to much and it gums up faster with dust and dirt. Some guns do require a little more lube than others to run smothly.

The metal really does not absorb the oil but it could work into seams, cracks, crevaces, between parts etc. Weird that the gun would be bone dry again.

I like Slip 2000 EWL for most applications.
 
If I'm being honest mine are really dry right now too. When I do clean them, I clean every surface with whatever I have and then just lightly oil everything and it's good to go for a couple more years.
 
I'm probably paranoid about corrosion, particularly since the only salt water in South Dakota is on the roads mid winter.
 
Very few gun lubes are thick enough to stay in place long term without running, dripping, or seaping out somehow.

Except for cosmoline maybe, and that's probably not something you want gooped up inside your barrel and receiver.

While I'm sure most of mine are dry as a bone right now, I do periodically clean and lubricate them at least a few times a year whether I'm using them or not and especially after using them. That's about the extent of what can realistically be done.

Putting them in the back of the closet where they stay for 23 years until grandma finds it after grandpa dies is why most guns look bad. Lack of maintenance. Routine upkeep is normally all it takes.
 
I've every intention of shooting a a thousand rounds per year at least. You're suggesting that regular cleaning after range days will be fine?
 
Yes.

Clean, lube, store, shoot, repeat.

Some guns I have, the really important heirloom guns, may go a few years without being fired.

But they'll get lubed up 2 to 3 times a year regardless.

The ones I use, I clean after I get them home from a workout, put up, and they're ready for the next go-round.

I live in the upper South, where temperatures range anywhere from -10 to 110 degrees and relatively high humidity year round.

You can stand in the shade and sweat in the summer.
 
With the 500, dry silicone is all I spray in the receiver, slide, bolt, elevator, internal magazine tube nowadays. I think I had my 1985 500A for over 30 years before I actually detail cleaned and lubed anything beside the barrel and trigger after thousands of rounds. A little oil on the rails, wipe the bolt and slide tube lightly. Even then, after 32 years, all I did was drop the bolt in a jar of Hoppe's overnight. Left a bunch of carbon and dirt and grit on the bottom of the jar. Needed cleaning, but was banging away nicely without it. Only thing I ever kept slightly wet is the barrel. Even then over 3 decades of trap, pheasant, salt water duck hunting (always loaned it to my Brother during duck season) more trap, abuse, rain, Connecticut winters and basement storage, no rust to be found on the original 28" barrel, mag tube or any steel parts. When I was younger I'd put 200-250 #7#8#9 shells through the 1985 500A popping clays at least once a week at the gun range. The 500 was sort of the American AKM. Not so sure about the new ones, but very sure about the older 500s.
 
^^^ excellent.

I could stand to put a little more time in to mine. I have rust on my barrel most of the time.
 
Spray some Ballistol in the receiver, work the action a few times....good to go. If it's been neglected, like it sounds, field strip it and coat everything with a light coat of any good gun lube. Run some patches soaked in lube through the bore. It might be worth while to remove the magazine tube and check for rust too.
What would be the best way to "re-lube" the shotgun? Or am I just worrying too much?
 
For lube I use a very thin film of red synthetic grease rather than gun oil or CLP. I think that GREASE stays where I put it and does not evaporate. And I typically lube moving parts very rarely. Shotguns may need rust protection but they need very little lubrication. Cleaning is rarely done unless the environment really contaminated the metal somehow.

There. I said it. I don't clean after every shooting session. :)
 
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There. I said it. I don't clean after every shooting session. :)

The hell you say!!! LOL

I can count on one hand how many times my 870 has been broken down and cleaned. I've had it for around 25 years and have put over 10K rounds through it. I only broke it down when exposed to water or lots of sand. I would wipe it down and give it a little spritz of Slip2K occasionally but that is it.

My 500 and 835 have not been in my collection nearly as long but I don't treat them any differently.
 
There. I said it. I don't clean after every shooting session. :)

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I also agree with using Lithium Grease #2 HP. I have been using that stuff for years on all my firearms, I haven't had any issues with it at all, stays put even when the firearm gets hot. I put it on any part of the firearm that looks to be getting any signs of wear marks. Just a nice visible film of that Red lithium grease goes a long way.
I have even used it in real cold weather in my AR 15, pistols & others without a issue.
 
. . I think I had my 1985 500A for over 30 years before I actually detail cleaned and lubed anything beside the barrel and trigger after thousands of rounds. . . .
. Not so sure about the new ones . . .

My 500 is only a couple years old, & it spent the first year on the store rack unsold. It had metal chips inside it from the mill, birtually no lube, and some light rust in the tube, when I got it.

I took it down & cleaned it out before ever shooting it. So far it is broken in nicely after a few hundred rounds, and I can rack 'em thru as fast as any Hollywood cowboy.
 
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